I am joining with my elected official colleagues and community organizations to sponsor another Know Your Rights Information Workshop for immigrants, refugees, their friends and supporters and concerned neighborhood residents. The workshop will take place this Sunday, January 29th, 2:00 p.m. at the Sullivan High School auditorium, 6631 N. Bosworth.

We are hosting this workshop in the wake of President Donald Trump’s alarming decision yesterday to issue an “executive order” that calls for stepped-up deportation efforts and the hiring of 10,000 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The executive order also affirms that it is now U.S. policy for local law enforcement officers to act as immigration officers whenever possible and prohibits any city that declares itself a sanctuary city from receiving federal funds.

I’m proud to say that we, the Mayor and the Chicago City Council, stood our ground and yesterday reaffirmed our pledge to keep Chicago a “sanctuary city” where city employees, including police officers, are prohibited from reporting undocumented immigrants to the federal government.

Despite our City’s best efforts, immigrants and refugees, regardless of their legal status, and those of us who are native born U.S. citizens, have a right to be concerned. In light of the current political climate, it is imperative that everyone know their rights if they are confronted by a law enforcement official.

Press reports indicate that Trump is poised to sign another executive order prohibiting immigration from some predominantly Islamic countries, including Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. In light of this fact, the workshop presentations this Sunday will focus on immigrants and refugees from those countries, but everyone is invited.

Experts from organizations that represent and advocate for immigrants in our nation will be on hand to provide you the latest information on your rights, explain the action plan they have developed and respond to your questions. The experts include:

We offered an informational Immigrants Rights workshop for the Latino immigrant community last month (see photo) and plan to offer additional informational workshops for other immigrant communities in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned.

I hope you can join me for this or one of our future workshops on this important topic.